Gear-shifting mechanism.



P. F. RICE.

GEAR SHIPTING y MEGHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 7, 1913,

19082552., v v v Patented Feb. 17,1914.

2 SEEBTS-SHEET l.

` P. F. RICE. GEAR SHIPTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1913.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

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2 SHEETS-SHEET 2v UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oEErcE.

PERCY F. RICE, 0F TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALFl T0 W. H.FAUST, OF

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

' GEAR-SHIFTING MECHANISM.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

A Application filed April 7, 1913.. Serial No. 759,533.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, PERCY- F. RICE, a c1 t1 zen of the United States,residing at Tustln, in the county of Orange and State of California,have invented a new and -useful Gear-Shifting Mechanism, of which thefollowing is a specification. t

Thisinvention relates to a gear shifting mechanism especially adaptedfor use in motor cars, and the objects of the invention are to eliminatethe hand operated lever which selects and slides the gears into 'or outof position, and to provide a device which is semi-automatic, whichembodles a small manually controlled selecting ldevice which may bemounted at any convenient point. near the driver, as for example, on thesteering column, which may be easily and quickly set in the desiredposition to select the ear combination desired and .the actual shiingmovement of the gears performed by other mechanism, as for example, bvmeans of `the clutch lever. In using the clutch lever for this purpose,I.utilize one portion of its movement for the shifting of' the gears andthe other portion of its move ment for the regular operation of theclutch. Thus, assuming the clutch is engaged, the first forward movementof the clutch lever is utilized to release the clutch in the usualmanner and the nextforward portion of movementl is utilized to producethe necessary power for shifting the gears, such power preferablyconsistlng of compressing -a spring, so Ythat the first portion of thereturn movement of the clutch lever will allow the spring' to performits work of shiftin the gears which have been selected, while t eremainder of the return movement of the clutch lever is utilized forengaging the clutch in the usual manner. By utilizing the clutch leverin this manner, the functions take place in the proper sequence andautomatically prevent wrong operation. Thus, the clutch must always bedisengaged before any gears are shifted and the clutchA should not againbe engaged until the gears have been shifted and these conditionsarethereby perfectly fullled.v There is another very important `advantagegained by this combination in that the shifting of the gears is notentirely automatic, so that it is possiblefor the driver when lettingback the clutch lever to shift the gears, to easeit back gradually sothat if the gears do not vproperlyvmesh at the rst contact, the drivercan alternately push and ease back the clutch lever with short movementsuntil the gears properly mesh, and then let the clutch lever come backthe full distance to let the gears Slide into engagement. In this mannerthe driver can, through'his foot, feel the condition of the gears andlet them in easily without unnecessary clashing in much the same mannerVas isnow done'in using the hand operated side lever.

As .the gear shifting operation is per-iformed by the foot of thedriver, vit leaves one of his hands free for other duty, as but a slightmovement of the hand is required to set the selecting lever in position.

A fu'rther advantage'is that by the elimination of the gea-r shiftinglever, the vehicle is /much better adapted when arranged for left handdrive, in that there is no gea-r 4shifting lever standing up in themiddle of space is left a plan view of the selecting and shifting?Amechanism, showing the parts in position with the clutch lever infarthest position forward. Fig. 5 is a section on ,line m5a: Fig. 4.Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig.v 5,

showing the parts in position with gears shiftedv into operatingposition. Fig. 7 is a section on line .T7-?, Fig. 5. Fig: 8 is a sectionon line m8-a:8, Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is a plan view of a modified form ofcontrolling-lu'.A

lever- Fig. l() is a side elevation of the form shown in Fig. 9.

The gears and gear box indicated at 1 areAV in general, of any wellknown form and construction, which are operated by two sliding rods 2and 3. These rods 2 and 3 are ordinarily actuated by a hand operatedgearshift lever, but I employ the gear shifting mechanism designated by2. In the present instance I have shown the device as adapted to a.gearing'giving three forward speeds and one reverse. Thus, by pushingforward no rod 3, the low'speed is secured and by placing rod 3 in therear position, a reverse movement is obtained. By shifting the rod 2 tothe rear, the second or intermediate speed is obtained and by placingthe rod 2 in forward position, the third or high speed is obtained, andby placing both rods 2 and 3 in the central position, a neutralcondition is obtained in which the gears do not act to transmit power ineither direction.

4 designates the driving shaft which is connected with the motor shaftand constantly revolves with the motor, and 5 is the driven shaft whichis operated through the medium of the transmission gears. The rods 2 and3 respectively operate forks 6 and 7 which in turn shift gears 8 and 9.Gears 10 and 11 are in constant mesh. By moving forward rod 2, gear 9may be clutched with gear 10 and the shaft 4 will then transmit powerdirect to shaft, giving the high speed. By sliding rod 2 to the rear,gear 9 will be moved into mesh with gear 12 and the shaft 5 will bedriven at the second or intermediate speed. By sliding rod 3 forward,gear 8 will be moved into mesh with gear 1.3 and the first or low speedforward secured, By moving rod 3 to the rear,` gear 8 will be placed inmesh with gear 14 and the latter being constantly in mesh with gear 15will impart a reverse rotation to shaft 5 at a slow speed, therebygiving a reverse direction of travel. All of the foregoing constructionis well known.

The gear shifting mechanism indicated at 2 comprises four slides 16, 17,18 and 19, each having slots 2O which travel on rollers 21, the latterbeing supported on shafts 22 which are mounted on a frame 23. The slides17 and 19 are longer than the other two slides and are connected bylinks 23 with the rods 2 and 3. In order to properly operate the rods 2and 3, the slides 17 and 19 have relative corresponding movements andpositions, the slide 17 having a forward position, a neutral posit-ionand a rear position, and the slide 19 having a forward position, aneutral posit-ion and a rear position. The slide 19 has a dependingoffsetl arm 24 with a vertical slot 25 which engages a pin 26 on a crank27, pivoted at 28. The upper end of crank 27 has a pin 29 whichengagesin a vertical slot 30 in an upwardly projecting offset arm 31 on the tslide 18. The slide 16 has a depending arm 32 which is similarlyoperatively connected with the lower end of a crank 33 and the latterconnected in a similar manner at its upper end to a raised offset arm 34on the slide 17. Thus, if the slide 16 is moved rearwardly, it willoscillate the crank 33 and move the slide 17 forward. To obtain the rearposition of slide 17, the slide 17 is actuated directly toward the rear.To obtain the forward position of slide 19, the slide 18 is retractedwhich oscillates crank 27 and moves slide 19 forward. To obtain the rearposition of slide 19, the latter is moved di rectly to the rear. Wheneither slide 17 or 19 is moved directly to the rear, the associatedslide 16 or 18 operates forward, but this movement is onlyincidental.

Each of the slides 16, 17, 18 and 19 is provided with a notch 35 whichstand in a line with each 'other when the four slides are in neutralposit-ion, as shown in Fig. 4. Slidable transversely of the bank ofslides and adapted to engage in either of the notches 35 a boss 36 whichis carried on the lower side of a block 37 which is slidably mounted ona cross bar 38, the latter being mounted on a yoke 39. The yoke 39 ismounted to slide oni the frame 23 and is operated by a stem 40, thelatter extending forward and being connected with the regular clutchlever 41. The rod 40 does not have a rigid connection with clutch level`41, but has a hollow socket 42 on its end which telescopes with a rod43, the latter being directly connected to the clutch lever 41 andhaving a pin 44 which slides in a slot 45 in the socket 42, as shown inFig. 2. The rearward movement of yoke 39 is the movement utilized toshift the gears and this movement is produced by a compression spring46, one end -of which engages the yoke and its other end bears againstan abutment 47 on the frame 23. The forward movement of yoke 39 isvproduced by operating clutchlever 41 and this movement compressesspring 46, thus storing power in spring 46 which is utilized during thereturn movement of clutch lever 41.

The boss 36 is moved into engagement with either of the slides or into aneutral position between two of the slides 18 and 19 by shifting theblock 37 on the bar 38. This shifting mechanism must permit of thenecessary longitudinal shifting motion of the boss 36 which takes placewhen the yoke 39 is operated. This is accomplished by a fork 48 whichengages a pin 49 projecting upwardly from the block 37, the fork 48being slidable laterally of the frame 23 on a bar 50 and being operatedby means of a link 51 which is connected with a bell crank lever 52pivoted at 53 and connected by a reach rod 54 with bell crank lever 55pivoted at 56 and connected by link 57 with an arm 58 projecting fromthe lower end of a shaft 59 which extends along the steering post 60 andis revolubly supported by brackets 61. The upper end of the shaft 59 isprovided with a handle 62 which may be operated over a sector 63, thelatter being provided with indicating marks 64 designating the thirdspeed; marks 65 designating the second speed, marks 66 designating theiii-st speed, marks 67 designating the neutral position, and 1narks'68designating the rcverse position.

A comb 69 is arranged above the frame 23, being rigidly secured thereto,and is formed with slots 70, 71,72, 73 and 74 which are respectivelylocated directly in line with the path of movement of the pin 49, whilethe boss 36 is in engagement with either of the slides 16, 1'7, 18 or19, with the exception that the slot '73 in the comb 69 is located at apoint between slides 18 and 19. The object of these slots is to preventthe block 37 from being shifted after it has moved back any one of theslides. iVithout the comb 69 it would `be possible to slide the block 37laterally without engagement with notch 35 in one of the slides when theslide has been shifted from neutral position and the associated gears inthe gear box were in mesh. This would lead to serious consequences as itwould permit the return of the block 37 to neutral position andrengagement with another slide and actuation of the latter slide, whilethe first slide was still in a shift-ed position. lith thecomb, howeverlthe pin 49 can only travel back in one of the slots in the comb and cannot be moved laterally except when it is free from the l comb and inneutral position. The slot 73 is provided for a neutral position andpermits the yoke 39 to be operated when the boss 36 of block 37 standsbetween the slides 18 and 19 without actuating either of these slides. Aneutral position is also vafforded for the boss 36 in either of thespaces between the other slides, but as only one neutral position isneeded, only one slot 73 is provided for this purpose and it is locatedbetween slides 18 and 19 which respectively7 correspend with the lowspeed and reverse gears,

.and is, therefore, the most convenient and appropriate position for theneutral.

The operation is as follows: The parts stand in normal position when asshown in Fig. 1, the clutch lever 41 being retracted and the clutchengaged, the selecting lever 62 standing in neutral position, and thepin 49 lying within slot 73. iVith the parts in these positions. theclutch lever 41 can be freely operated to release the clutch, or ifdesired, it may be operated farther forward through the full length ofits throw without actuating the gear shifting mechanism in any manner,the latter portion of its throw simply causing pin 49 to slide idlyforward and back in slot 73. Let it be assumed that the motor car isstanding with the engine running and it is desired to start. The firstact is to push forward the clutch lever 41 through the first portion ofits forward movement, which act releases the clutch, but does not drawforward the yoke 39. for the pin 44 is only drawn to the forward end ofslot 45 in sleeve 42. Although the clutch has been thus released. thepin 49 still lies in the bottom of. slot 73, because yoke 39 has notyet. been moved forward.

forward, and when the clutch lever a position over Continued forwardmovement of the clutch,

lever 41 now causes pin 44 to act upon sleeve 42 and pull forward rod 40and yoke 39, compressing spring 46 and moving pin 49 been pushedcompletely forward, the pin 49 -will have been moved forward enough toclear the slot 73 and permit the p'in 49 to be moved laterally. Theselecting lever 62 is now operated manually by the driver, who swings itinto a position over L on the sector 62, into alinement with positionindicated at 66. This action rocks the shaft 59 and through thebefore-described connections moves the block 37 to the left, bringingboss 36 into engagement with notch 35 in slide 18. This adjustment ofthe selecting lever 62 requires but the slightestmovement of the hand,no appreciable power being required to operate it. The next action isfor the driver to ease back on the clutch lever 41, the backwardmovement being accomplished by the spring 46 assisted by the regularclutch spring. This moves the yoke 39 back and carries the block 37rearwardly, thereby causing the boss-36 which is in eugagement withslide 31 to move the slide 31 rearwardly and as slide 31 movesrearwardly, it rocks crank 27 and the latter pushes the slide 19forwardly and the latter pushes forward rod 3 and places gear 8 in meshwith gear 13, this operation taking place during the iirst portion ofthe rearward nio-vement of the clutch lever 41, and

after the gears have thus been placed in mesh with each other, continuedrearward movement of the clutch lever 41 1s employed in engaging theclutch 1n the usual manner,

-whereupon the vehicle moves ahead propelled at the low speed. liliththe car moving ahead at low speed, to shift to the second speed issimply a repetition of the operation just described, with the exceptionthat the selecting lever 62 is adjusted into the position over L on thesector 62, and for the third speed the selecting lever 62 is adjustedinto a position over H l on the sector 6;). while for a reversedirection of travel, the selecting lever (i2 is adjusted to l." on thesector 62. In adjustingl the selecting lever 62 from any of the gearengaging positions to another, the selecting lever does-not have to bemoved back to a neutral position. For example, the selecting lever ifstanding over H may be swung into the extreme opposite position over R.This is because when the clutch lever41 is in extreme forward positionthe slots 35 in all of the'slides are in line and the block 37 may befreely moved transversely into alinement with any of the slides.

A very great advantage of this construction is thatfthe actualengagement .of the gears is not absolutely automatic, but under 41 hasthe control of the driver. If the engaging function were absolutelyautomatic, it would be difficult to avoid serious clashing of the gearsand. frequent damage, but as the engaging motion is under the control ofthe driver, he can feel with his foot the conditions of the gears, witha gentleA rearward movement of the clutch lever and if the gears do notreadily slide together, the driver can refrain from allowing the clutchlever to be retracted by the spring and thus avoid clashing of the gearsuntil they have turned, so that they will smoothly slide together. rlhisconstruction secures all of the advantages of the present manuallyoperated gear shift lever and dispenses with that lever.

The foregoing described construction makes it necessary to throw theclutch out far enough to move the yoke 39 to a point suiiicient to bringthe pin 49 out of engage ment with the comb before t-he controllinglever 62 can be shifted. Whenever it is desirable to provide forshifting the lever 62 before disengaging the clutch, the constructionshown in Figs. 9 and 10 may be employed, in which 62a is a controllinglever which is loosely journaled' on the upper end of shaft 59 and 62bis an intermediate bi.- furcated lever which is rigidly secured to theshaft 59 and holds the lever 62a yieldingly in a central position bymeans of interposed opposing coil springs 62C. With this constructioneven though the clutch is still in, the clutch lever 62 may be swunginto any position desired, which will cause a corresponding compressionof a spring 62c and as soon as the clutch is released, then the oppositespring will expand and force the lever 62a into a central position,thereby shifting the pin 49. This construction avoids the necessity ofoperating the controlling lever at any particular timeiin the order ofoperation. l

What l claim is:

l. A gear shifting mechanism comprising a system of gears, a rodconnected with said system and operable in two directions to shift thegears of said system, a pair of slidable bars, one of which is connected.with said rod, means connecting said bars for ioving either of them ina direction opposite to that in which the other is moved, a selectivemeans having an operative stroke in one direction and adapted to beengaged with either of said bars, means for setting said selectivemechanism in the desired position, a clutch, a clutch lever foroperating the clutch, means positively connected with the clutch leverand having a limited movement with respect thereto for moving theselective mechanism and thereby operating the bar engaged therewith tolshift the rod and move the associated gears into position.

2. A gear shifting mechanism comprising a gear system, a clutch forcontrolling the same. a lever for operating said clutch, a

manually operated selecting means, a plurality of bars for shifting saidgears, a plurality of pairs of rods with one rod of each pair connectedwith a bar, motion reversing means between the two rods of each pair forcausing them to be actuated in reverse directions, a selecting mechanismoperated by said selecting means for engaging with either member ofeither pair of rods, and a positive connection with a definite lostmotion from the clutch lever to the selecting means for moving the'latter when the clutch lever is operated in either direction.

8. A gear shifting mechanism comprising a system of gears, a clutchforcontrolling said gears, a clutch lever for operating the clutch, aplurality of bars for moving said gears, a plurality of pairs of rodswith one rod of each pair connected to a bar, a reversing crankconnecting both members of a pair of rods, each rod having a notch, ablock slidable into engagement with any of said notches, means connectedwith the clutch lever for moving the block in a direction longitudinalof the rods to shift the rod with which the block engages, and amanually operated device for shifting said block laterally intoengagement with either of said rods.

4. A gear shifting mechanism comprising a system of gears, a clutch forcontrolling said gears, a clutch lever for operating the clutch, aplurality of bars for moving said gears, a plurality of pairs of rodswith one rod of each pair'connected to a bar, a reversing crankconnecting both members of a pair of rods, each rod having a. notch, ablock slidable into engagement with any of said notches, means connectedwith the clutch lever for moving the block in a direction longitudinalof the rods to shift the rod with which the block engages, a manuallyoperated device for shifting said block laterally into engagement .witheither of i said rods, and a comb for guiding said block when it isbeing move-d to shift a rod, preventing disengagement of the block fromthe rod duringl such movement.

A gear shifting mechanism comprising a system of gears, gear selectingmeans including a lever, elastic means intermediate said lever and saidselecting means to actuyate the selecting means when resistance to themovement of the selecting means is re moved, said elastic meanspermitting the setting of said lever while the selecting means isstationary, and means controlled by the selecting means .for moving theselected gears into position.

6. A gear shifting mechanism comprising a plurality of slides arrangedparallel with each other, each of said slides having a projecting offsetarm, certain 0f said offset arms being projected oppositely from theother offset arms, cranks extending between and connecting oppositelyprojecting offset arms for compelling opposite direction of movement ofthe connected slides, a system of gears connected with said slides andshifted thereby, slide operating means, and selective mea-ns forengaging said slide operating means with either of said slides. Y

7. A gear shifting mechanism comprising a system of gears, a selectinglever, a plurality of gear shifting devices, means operated by saidselecting member and movable transversely of said devices for engagingany one of said devices to move the associated gears into or out ofposition,iand

means for guiding said transversely mov- 154 able 'means in alongitudinal path parallel with said gear actuating devices to keep theI said means in engagement therewith during the shifting operation. y

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto lset 20 my hand at Los Angeles,California this 31st day of March, l913.

PERCY F. RICE. In presence of- GEORGE T. HACKLEY, MARTHA M. LANGE.

